The wonderfully named ‘Flying Rags for Glory: the A-Z of competition paragliding’ hit the shops at the beginning of the month and is the current best selling item at XCShop.com.
Mads’ Syndergaard’s exhaustive work is a first of its kind. Normally competitions have been relegated to a sub-section of general flying books, when in truth, with the boom in interest in competitive flying over the last few years, the advent of new tasks, modern equipment and sometimes highly-complicated scoring systems, competition paragliding is more than ready for a book like this.
With 17 years of top-level competition paragliding behind him, Mads clearly has the credentials to write a book like this. His knowledge and experience as both a competitor, meet director, comp organiser and PWC representative makes him perhaps the most relevant pilot in paragliding at the moment to take on a project like Flying Rags For Glory.
XCMag.com caught up with the ever-modest Mads by email to shake him down as to why he’d written Flying Rags for Glory and to get a few answers you won’t get out of the book.
Hey Mads, why a book on paragliding competitions?
Well, I’ve always been a words person, and as such had a real urge to produce something of my own. Only I’ve wasted the greater part of my life on paragliding and paragliding comps, so that is really the only subject on which I can speak with any semblance of authority – hence this book. Plus I thought it would make for fun reading for the admittedly few people interested in this stuff.
So who are you to be telling us what to do anyway?
Mmmm – that is a hard one. I am by no means a natural born winner of paragliding comps – but I have nonetheless managed to win a few of the bigger events. This means that I’ve had to think about winning, and what makes a winner, more than natural born winners probably have.
Besides, I’ve been married to the comp scene since 1994 and know it well, and blah blah. Just read the darn thing, and ask again!
Why bother competing anyway? Isn’t it all crowded skies and people telling you what to do?
Depends on what you make of it. For me it is a chance to hang with my mates and learn SOOO much faster than I could ever hope to do elsewhere. It makes you a better pilot, and with all the inherent dangers in our sport that is surely a good thing?
So if I fancy a crack at this competition thing, where do I start?
That depends on where you are based. If you live in a ‘big’ paragliding nation then chances are that there will be comps for every level just down the road – only very many of us don’t, so we need to go about it in a different manner. I personally prefer the mid-sized to big Cat2 events above anything else – I don’t recommend starting at PWC level even though the new system does in fact allow this. Gathering some scalps in ‘easier’ events is much better for the competition mindset than being repeatedly thrashed in PWCs.
Where am I bound to go wrong?
Anywhere really, but generally on the first final glide into wind.
200 pages! That’s a lot of work. What’s your favourite bit?
My main interest is the psychology of the whole thing – why do some people feel that they have an almost God-given right to win right from day one?
And what bit had you pulling your hair out?
I’m a words person, not a graphics person. Layout and illustrations are really not my thing.
Do Brazilian beaches and early retirement beckon now that you’re a famous author? Or is it back to your regular job?
Yeah I’ll be reachable via satellite phone on some beach in Maranhão from now on… Or, perhaps I’ll just go back to writing things for others, contemplating if there isn’t just SOMETHING I know a bit about too so I can write more for myself.
Thanks Mads and good luck with the book.
Everything you need to know to fly paragliding competitions
Flying Rags For Glory: an A-Z of Competition Paragliding is available from www.xcshop.com priced £ 29.95 / € 34.45 / $ 47.95. Pre-order before midnight 8 Dec to save 10% on the retail price.
Click the links below to look inside Flying Rags For Glory: an A-Z of Competition Paragliding
Excerpt#1 – Your First Task Briefing
